Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health is looking into the use of drones for the delivery of medical specimens, small supplies and drugs, according to The Duluth News Tribune.
Dean Weber, Sanford' Health's vice president of corporate supply chain management, told the publication that drone delivery is one of the ways the system is looking to improve the transport efficiency of small, lightweight items that human couriers would otherwise handle.
He said that drones could be helpful in the two-way delivery of goods, especially from remote sites, which is common in Sanford's network of locations.
"If you're a small facility and you have a box, either a diagnostic specimen or important paperwork or whatever, and a drone can be dispatched to pick it up, that seems to have some value for the customer as well," Mr. Weber told The Tribune.
Discussions about using drone delivery are still in the early stages, he said.